OK, based on advice of many here, I went to a major post office/distribution center. Luckily, it's across the street from Fedex, where I go every day. I avoided the small local yocal post offices.

Anyway, I played stupid and ask if they had IRCs because of my ham hobby, as I didn't know what they were. The first guy I walked up to, whipped out a newly sealed pack of the new style. Not only that, but he explained to me exactly how they are used and what they are for. He told me to use these instead of money.

How do you get them postmarked without a trip to the post office? Convenience with a Catch 22.

If you are lucky enough to be on a rural postal route, you can place a check and a note to the postmaster describing what you want (also reminding them to postmark the IRCs) and they will magically show up in your mailbox a few days later.

Sorry, but this is wrong. I've seen several QRZ.COM entries for hams in Europe especially that emphasize the need to have the IRC postmarked. I'm willing to believe the guys who have to try to get the IRCs redeemed.

Of course, if your corresponding HAM specifies a stamp, get one! Also, I can definitely see that a Thai postman will have difficulty with the fine print in French. You can definitely help your QSL'er avoid a long argument with his post office by just getting it postmarked...

Nevertheless - it is *True* that the stamp is optional. That is why USPS mails them to you with just a basic "USA / $2.10" printed there.

I purchased some IRCs from the USPS online site and received them unstamped. I sent them off with QSL requests.

Today in the mail I received replacement IRCs, stamped nicely in the left box, with a letter. Excerpts from the letter: "The International Reply Coupons you originally received were not properly postmarked and therefore, cannot be used for mailing. These may be discarded. We are enclosing replacement International Reply Coupons, postmarked on the left side(under heading "control stamp of the country of origin"), as required by US Postal Regulations."

A discussion of US-issued IRCs stamped with a wet stamp by the selling office or simply sold with the printed "US $2.10" revolves around two concepts: first, the fact that IRCs distinctly say under Universal Postal Union rules in that left-hand box in French that the stamp is "facultative", that is, "optional" so the US is quite correct in selling them with just a printed "US $2.10"; second, postal administrations that redeem them often have their own rules, frequently at variance with UPU rules (see #1), requiring something of the issuing offices that is not called for (i.e.,a wet stamp).

In the end the ham that redeems the IRC has to play by his administration's rules and we, seeking the QSL, have to play by their rules too, UPU rules notwithstanding.

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